Showtime President and CEO David Nevins announced today that Stephen Espinoza has been promoted to President, Sports and Event Programming. In his new position, he will report to Nevins and continue to develop and execute the overall strategy of the group.

“Simply stated, Stephen is the heavyweight champion of his profession,” said Nevins. “He is an innovator, equal parts thoughtful and tenacious, who has turned Showtime boxing into the market leader, while also driving excellence in our documentaries and sports series.”

Since Espinoza’s time at Showtime, he blazed a trail to make the cabler the undisputed leading outlet for live boxing. In 2017, Showtime Sports produced twice as many world championship fights than any other outlet. In addition, Showtime Championship Boxing has slated a TV lineup for the first half of 2018 that will be the largest ever in boxing with 10 world-class events including 12 world title fights.

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Under the leadership of Espinoza, Showtime landed two of the most watched pay-per-view events in history: the hot fight tickets of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao in May 2015 and Mayweather vs. MacGregor in August 2017. With the Mayweather-Canelo fight in September 2013, the trio of fights was the most lucrative under Espinoza’s tenure.

He also made history by helping orchestrate one of the biggest deals in boxing history when Floyd Mayweather moved to Showtime in 2013 under a landmark six-fight deal. Across seven events with Mayweather, Showtime PPV generated more than 14 million domestic buys (U.S. and Canada) and over $1.2 billion in domestic pay-per-view revenue during a span of just four years.

In his new position, Espinoza will manage the day-to-day activities of the sports and event group, including its pay-per-view unit. Based in Showtime Networks’ New York offices, Espinoza oversees the production of the network’s original sports series and sports documentaries, as well as the acquisition and licensing of all other Showtime and pay-per-view sports and event programming.

Prior to boarding Showtime in 2011, Espinoza was a partner in the firm of Ziffren Brittenham LLP where he specialized in representing athletes and sports personalities, including professional boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Mike Tyson. He also served as lead counsel for De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions dating back to the formation of the company. With his work, Espinoza has been directly involved in the five highest-grossing pay-per-view events of all time. Some of his other former clients include Michael Strahan and Gina Carano.